Referral: Publish high quality blog posts that people want to link to. Then, reach out to people to for back links. Add your web address when you comment on other blogs and in forums.

Organic: Consistently publish blog posts. Each on a different topic in your subject area. This will increase the number of pages in search results. Plus, when people link to your posts, it sends signals to Google that your content is valuable. This in turn increases your ranking in search results and gets more organic traffic.

Social: Post helpful and interesting social media updates with a link for the full content.

Email: Subscribe visitors to your email list and notify them when you have something new.

3. Are my website’s visitors new or returning?

Average percentage of new visitors: 82%

Average percentage of returning visitors: 18%

Does it matter whether visitors are new or returning? It’s all traffic after all, right?

Your new vs. returning figures show how engaged your followers are over time.

Just like in a business – attracting new customers costs a company 5x more than keeping an existing customer.

Tip: Focus on getting your existing audience to return

Repeat visitors have the potential to become true fans. After all, their return means they’re interested! To encourage return visits:

Create an email list (heard me say this before?) and engage the contacts on that list with compelling reasons to come back to your site. My stats are 62% new visitors, to 38% returning. How do I do it? My articles and email list.

Encourage comments which need a return visit to continue the conversation. Comment on other blogs and forums to build relationships. These relationships first encourage a small group to comment on your blog. Once you have a comment culture established, it’s much easier for new or casual readers to join in.

Use your social channels to drive traffic to your site. Remember your social account is the vehicle, not the destination. Plus, being social gives you the opportunity to stay top of mind.

4. What is the total duration of their visit?

The average time spent on site is 1 minute 44 seconds

Various factors can affect the length of time that visitors hang around. A few include your website’s design, the user experience, and of course your content.

Tip: Make sure you have a distinct visual design and amazing user experience

One thing that attracts and keeps visitors glued to your website is its design.

Use multiple unique page layouts for each section of your site where possible. This way, when visitors move from page to page, the experience changes. It encourages exploration of your content rather than glazing over and mindless scrolling.

Create a unique user visit that leaves people feeling like they’ve experienced something special. If you’ve published fiction, you’ll have no trouble creating imaginary settings and experiences. Use those skills to create a simple but engaging journey through your site.

5. How many pages do people view per visit?

Our study shows that on average, people view 2.2 pages per visit.

People are time poor. They visit a staggering number of new websites everyday, not to mention social media consumption. Unless they’re engaged they’ll leave.

You’ve spent all that time labouring over your website content, to find that visitors aren’t even reading it. Here’s how you can increase your pages per visit:

Tip #1: Clear main menu navigation

Navigation should be like a good friend: there when you need them, but good enough to give you space.

Consistency is important in ensuring visitors don’t get lost. Navigation should always be simple, unadorned, and direct. The aim here is to help visitors navigate effortlessly to what they’re looking for.

Tip #2: Simplify everything

Design is an art and a science – so this tip might be a bit contentious – but my philosophy is to:

6. What is the most popular type of page?

You already know how many visitors you get and how long they stay on your website. Knowing which pages people are looking for helps you optimise the site’s experience.

Tip: Use standardised names for your pages

Use obvious and pre-established names for your key pages, so they’re easy to find in the main menu.

Naming a page with your book’s title can be confusing to visitors that are new to your work. For example if my book was titled The Voices Above, what does that mean in the main menu to a new visitor? Create a page titled ‘Books’, then create a sub-page with your book’s title. The benefits are:

Way finding is easier for new visitors.

When you publish additional books, your site structure is in place.

It creates a nice URL for search engines, e.g. ‘sarahauthor.com/books/the-voices-above

Another place to use standardisation, is if you’ve given your blog a name, such as Whimsical Words or Dan’s Desk. A name is good for your blog’s identity, but in the main menu it’s less meaningful and can be confusing. My suggestion is to call it ‘Blog’ in the main menu, and add the name to the top of your blog page instead.

7. On what devices are visitors viewing my website?

Desktop: 70%

Tablet: 13%

Mobile: 17%

Nowadays, there are many different ways to view and access a website.

Although I’ve separated them here, I generally think of mobile and tablet as a similar user experience.

Tip: Invest in a Mobile-Friendly ‘Responsive’ Design

Since everyone is now using smartphones and tablets to access the web, you can no longer ignore the need for a mobile-friendly website.

If you’re write for a YA or millennial audience, this is even more important.

Also, Google has started rewarding mobile-friendly sites with better rankings.

Enjoying these posts. Very useful as I'm about to publish a YA contemporary fantasy via Amazon

Dec 1, 2015 11:41am

Jin Wang

Ian, glad you’re getting something out of my articles. Keep me updated on the launch of The Towers of Zordan

Dec 1, 2015 12:13am

Bren

7% from social media is very interesting... considering how much time it takes. :/

Dec 1, 2015 17:45pm

Jin Wang

Great observation Bren. If authors aren’t driving traffic back to their websites, running a blog, and time spent on social is more of an expense than an asset. I wrote a response to these stats in an article on building audiences through subscription. I think because writing can be a solitary pursuit, authors use social media to connect to peers.

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